Nothing provides a gut check like a question from the parody king
The first Weird Al Yankovic song I really liked was a hidden gem on his Even Worse album called, “You Make Me.” It was a style parody of techno band Oingo Boingo and featured a string of absurdities and insults as if the narrator were 12-years-old reciting the awful things a girl made him feel. I had no idea the song was teaching me about content optimization, but the song spoke to me. What can I say? I was rejected a lot. My favorite line:
You make me wanna staple bagels to my face. Then remove ‘em with a pitchfork
When I want to gut-check my content, I think back to that song and ask, “What does this content make me feel or want to do?” If I can answer clearly, and it’s what I want my audience to feel or do, then I have good content. If not, I need to do more work.
It’s all in the output
Whatever the reason for the narrator’s sorrow, “You make me,” features verification that the woman pushed an emotional trigger. This is what you are ultimately trying to do with your content: Push an emotional trigger. I’ve said before that I believe our jobs as marketers today is to produce, “Holy Smokes!” content – that which makes the audience scream, “Holy Smokes! That’s awesome!” (Insert any number of adjectives for “awesome” to get the point.) By asking ourselves if the content indeed produces that result, we hold ourselves to a better standard.
Get in the “You Make Me…” habit
Put the “You Make Me” test to work for content optimization. Write the words, “You make me …” (include the ellipsis) on a Post-It note. Place it along side your computer monitor or where you’ll see it when working. Then, just before you hit “Print” or “Send” or “Publish” read the content one last time and ask the question. The trick to making it work is detaching you from ownership of the content. Put yourself in the mindset and perspective of your target audience. Forget that you wrote it, that you love the brand you’re writing for and that you have a vested interest in the outcome. Be a blank slate as you read the content that final time. Now ask the question. If that content, read or consumed in the mindset of your target audience makes you want to staple bagels to your face … start over. If it makes you feel nothing good or bad, work harder. If it makes you want to take action – the action you want your audience to take – then publish it. This litmus test will keep your content focused on the purpose of pushing an emotional trigger in your audience, making your content more successful.
